Sunday, May 30, 2010

25/28 weeks!

Here's the photos for this week. Let's ignore the overtired look on my face. And the wet spots on my shirt from my lack of coordination. I think the general tiredness earlier in the evening is coming back to me. Plus, it was warmer than usual today and we spent the day walking around Balboa Park with the dogs and Jordan's mom. The extra sun is catching up with me tonight :-)





Nothing new has really happened this week. Same kicks/jabs/breakdancing going on inside my belly. I'm loving the kicks. They're pretty awesome. I did see the kid kick last night. That was pretty much the highlight of my day. The contractions are steadily getting more noticable. Nowhere near painful or irritating, just more there - like I'm suddenly aware that I have a uterus at all and BAM! it gets super hard and tight. It's all pretty great, though. I think I'm a fan of being pregnant.

Monday, May 24, 2010

I take it back.

I take it all back. I mentioned how happy I was to not to have a real linea nigra. Guess what? I've got half of one now. I'm striped.

I mentioned yesterday that I'm peeved about the weird vanity-esque sizing that maternity clothes have. I'm not waiting around until that one bites me in the butt. I take it back. Vanity sizing is great. It's wonderful.

I'm going to have to watch myself from here on out. I may just have to stop talking and typing altogether.

Sunday, May 23, 2010

New photos and a little more

A little while ago, I mentioned that I finally had a reason to make these. I did end up making them (vegetarian, of course) for one of our Bradley birth classes and they were pretty awesome. I was worried that there may be a lack of flavor, but the smokiness of the gruyere, peppery taste of the arugula and tang of the stone-ground dijon was perfect. I'll be making them again tonight because I've got so much stuff leftover AND they were so tasty. Definitely recommend them.

I also was pretty thrilled to make this. And then I was pretty thrilled to eat it. I made this caramel sauce to drizzle on top and served it up with some vanilla ice cream. Soooo good. Not too sweet or over-chocolatey. And bonus - the extra caramel sauce is delicious in place of sugar in your coffee. YUM. Do it. Do it now.

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Aaaand here's the photos for this week. Baby news for this week includes me finally hearing Spork's heartbeat (!!!), I measured at 26 weeks this week, and the Braxton Hicks contractions are happening everyday now. They started at least a few weeks ago but I wasn't positive that's what they were until I talked to the midwife. Pretty much I just become aware that I actually have a uterus and it firms up to a tight ball in my belly. Kind of neat. The kid seems to think it's a game because the rolling somersaults and elbow jabs usually accompany them ;-)









I know what you're thinking. And yes, the belly is giant. I did give in this week and bought a couple maternity shirts. I just felt like I was punishing some of my tops for something they didn't do. I do have a gripe, however. Just because someone is pregnant does not mean that they are carrying the child in their ass. I tried on some shorts and pants - and holy crap. Though it's nice to fit in XS clothing, I'm having a bit of trouble with the sizing. It's just not right. Thankfully, I was able to find a pair of shorts that are only partially hideous and kind of fit/will fit in a couple weeks. My pants are all still fitting for the time being, so I'm pretty happy about that.

Keep your fingers crossed I don't start packing on the ass-fat too heavy now that I've put all this out there. I'm expecting some, just not Shamu-style.

Sunday, May 16, 2010

23/26 week photos

Let's all bare in mind that I just stuffed my face with a black bean burger and a crash potato, so I'm feeling a little bit huge in these pics. And my hair is a tad greasy for some reason. Deal with it.








Spork has been kicking/punching/break-dancing/generally freaking out more lately. I'm enjoying it now and keep being told that soon it'll annoy me. It's pretty awesome, so we'll see if that happens.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

It's cupcake time!

I walked in the living room at a bad time. Someone on television was making coconut cupcakes, which means that I needed to make coconut cupcakes. Immediately. Thankfully, Jordan came home from work for lunch, so I was able to run out and grab the few ingredients I needed. And I'm oh-so happy that I did!

Here's the recipe I decided to go with. I chose this one because the idea of using coconut milk as the liquid made me 5 different shades of happy in my happy place. And you simply can't go wrong with cream cheese frosting. Ever. Plus it didn't require much time or effort on my part. Because when you want coconut cupcakes, you want them now. Not 7 hours from now.

They turned out to be just as good as I'd expected! The cream cheese frosting keeps it from being just a too-sweet cupcake (although they are perfectly sweet). I added extra coconut to the frosting, too - just to make sure I was getting my full daily requirement of coconut ;-) The cupcake is not as light and airy as a normal cupcake - maybe because of the heaviness of the coconut milk? I think next time I'll try using cake flour instead. Still, it didn't take anything away from the overall taste - they're awesome.


Sunday, May 9, 2010

New Photos!

So, here's the latest pics. If you're keeping track, these are either the 25 week or the 22 week photos. I'll let you choose what you think since we're still not sure either.

I know. I know.




I've been told that the belly appears bigger in person than in photos. Just so you know.

Is the belly band still in the way in these? I'm thinking it's down as far as sweatpants would be, so I think we're getting the full view of Spork's hideout. Or, as much as I'm willing to put on a public blog.

And just because I can, I'd like to say it just one more time in case you read this today (Sunday) - Happy Mother's Day, Mom! I appreciate every little (and big) thing that you've done for me and I love you. And I'm sorry for being such a messy kid. I definitely earned the name "the little tornado."

Oh, and sorry about those teen years. Those must have been brutal.

Because karma has a way with these things, I'm sure that this kid will be even worse than I was. Feel free to laugh at me when I call you to complain in a few years.

Friday, May 7, 2010

Homemade goodies and startling revelations

I'm doing something that I never thought I'd do. Never even crossed my mind.

I'm boiling diapers.

I got my 4 dozen Green Mountain Prefold Diapers today and was just itching to get them prepped. I know how sad that sounds. But they start off so flat and rough and I just couldn't wait to see them triple in size and get all different kinds of soft & quilty. I got 1 dozen of each size - that way we're adding to our stash without having too many of each type (fitteds, prefolds, etc).

This baby is making me say things like 'quilty,' and getting me irrationally excited about things like this. I'm done for.

I've also been working on making my very own cloth wipes. I'm not a good sewer by any means (as evidenced by 2 broken needles, lots of wasted knots of thread) and I have gotten pretty close to tossing the sewing machine out the back door. That said, I've got some cute wipes now. They're far from perfect, but since I'll be wiping a butt with them...I'm thinking they'll work just fine ;-)
So far, I have 8 - 8x8 terry/flannel, 10 - 6x6 terry/flannel, and 4 - 4x4 double-sided flannel. Plus I'm currently working on a set of 7x7 flannel/cotton. I've got a bunch more to make, but I'm pretty excited to share these.

And, because I'm equally excited about food, you should know that I have 2 pizza doughs rising and getting delicious in my kitchen as I type this. One is rosemary and the other is thyme...and neither will be ready until at least tomorrow evening. These things only get better with time and, as long as I have the patience, I'll be waiting it out. They will certainly make some awesome pizza crusts. The recipe is from my favorite - Pioneer Woman. Simple and yummy.

Because you're likely here just for the baby news, I'll let you in on a little tidbit from today. Jordan got to hear the baby's heartbeat using a fetoscope today! I tried a few times, but couldn't hear a thing besides my own gut and the wooooooshing of the placenta (sorry, I know). Jordan and the midwife both thought I was crazy for not hearing it. Either way, it's pretty cool. I mean, we were pretty sure there was a baby in there. Now we're positive :-)

Monday, May 3, 2010

Oh, Martha.

Again, I realize I started this to keep up with the pregnancy. But let's face it - I like food. A lot. And I like to cook. It goes well with the liking of food.

I got a recipe from the one and only 'Martha' show the other day and decided to try it out. It was the No-Nuttin' granola bars and they turned out pretty darn good (I did not bother getting dairy-free chocolate chips. That just seems wrong). Seriously could not be easier and there can be so many variations, I doubt I'll get bored of trying new additions for awhile. I mean, it's granola. You can't go wrong. Except that I kind of did go wrong with the first batch. A little hint - if it's a warm day, don't add your chocolate chips to the top until the granola is MORE than cool to the touch. I ended up having to shove them into the fridge to harden because the chocolate was melting. Now they're pretty hard (think Rice Krispie treats that have been frozen). Still good, but I've learned my lesson. Considering we're air-conditioning-challenged here, I doubt that my next few batches will contain anything that can melt. I'm having awful flashbacks to my Rosemary Shortbread cookie-making day last summer. Butter-heavy recipes in a 90+ degree kitchen? Not again. They turned out delicious, but it took all day long because the dough warms up so quickly and I had to keep putting it in the fridge to firm up.

By the way, Martha is hilarious. I don't suspect that she's always trying to be funny, but she is. Oh, and bonus if she's cooking with alcohol. That woman can't stop 'tasting' the beer, wine, liquor that she's using. Prison definitely hardened her and I'm a BIG fan.

I finally have a reason (as if I really need a reason to make this stuff) to make these. Naturally, I'll be making a vegetarian version (arugula + gruyere?) , but I'm sure at some point I'll find a reason to make the meat-laden ones as well. They just sound so delicious. I'm super excited and may even remember to report back on just how awesome they are ;-)

And just to add a little baby news, Spork seems to be getting bigger these days. Or at least moving around more often because the kicks/jabs/twists and turns have become more frequent AND Jordan can feel them too! Still not super-frequent, but definitely getting more so.

Saturday, May 1, 2010

21/24 weeks





Here's some pics from this week. I feel giant. It doesn't look like I should feel giant, but I do. I'm pretty sure I'm going to explode any minute. Not complaining, just commenting on my overall stretched out feeling.

Let's also notice that my belly button is getting flatter by the day. Oh, and those old belly button piercing holes? They are supremely stretched out, though, I'm surprised they even still exist. I haven't pushed any metal through it in about 8 years. And if you think your eyes may be playing tricks on you, they're not. All that wonderful light-colored peach fuzz that keeps me toasty is still there on my belly, only I'm noticing that I'm getting quite the tiger stripe straight down the center. Only dark there. Nice. So far, it's just the fuzz -- no skin discoloration. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it stops with that.

That's enough grossing you out for now.
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And just to clear up any confusion, we did decide awhile back to go with the homebirth midwife. It made the most sense to us and we're completely happy with her. She's awesome.